


Glimmers

by diceysmiles



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Character Death, Drama, Fate & Destiny, I Don't Even Know, Multi, Random & Short, Short One Shot, Sorry Not Sorry, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-09 15:18:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11107272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diceysmiles/pseuds/diceysmiles
Summary: A glimmer into the life of one person that starts twenty-eight years after his conception and spirals backward to give a view of how his life affects those around him.





	Glimmers

###  **2040**

The sun streamed in thru the windows marking the beginning of a new day. It took a moment before Sasuke's eyes blinked open. He squinted momentarily looking around when Naruto came into focus. It wasn't the first time he stayed the night but it was the first time Sasuke felt something real as he looked at Naruto’s handsome face. Sasuke decided in that moment that he would propose to Naruto soon. Sasuke had never loved anyone the way he loved Naruto. Sasuke finally allowed his heart to hope that things would get better. From the moment Naruto came into his life, it had gotten better because now Sasuke had something to look forward to, his love.

Sasuke was no longer lonely, nor did he have to fear his own demons from his past that Naruto, somehow, helped pacify and eradicate altogether. Sasuke gently brushed Naruto’s hair away from his face and took it behind his ear. Sasuke leaned in and gave Naruto soft kisses along his jawline down to his neck. Naruto's eyes opened tentatively and when Sasuke's face came into focus, he beamed. Sasuke loved that about him. Naruto always woke happily.

"I love you," Sasuke told him in a soft whisper as if the words themselves held so much emotion that if he spoke them louder they’d be overwhelming.

It was the first time Sasuke had said those three words. But Naruto wasn't given the chance to answer; he began to fade slowly disappearing completely.

 

That morning never happened, or any other that involved Naruto; he was never in Sasuke's life. But Naruto was almost a part of it, at one point, before his destiny was erased.

 

###  **2033**

Kakashi was walking down the street like usual with no real destination in mind. He never thought about what he was going to wear since he wore the same thing every day; never changing. He never thought of what to say; he never spoke to anyone. It had been years since he had heard his own voice aloud. He heard many in his head constantly and never felt the need to contribute to the chatter. It would be useless otherwise since the voices only accuse him of being a curse. He had been a curse since the day he was born. First, his mother passed away. Next, came his father. And when he finally decided to form bonds, it was by his own hands that his two best friends died. But fate decided to add his mentor to the list of the dead. It was best for him to be alone. Not even the voices in his head welcomed his company.

Kakashi didn’t live, he simply survived. If he was hungry, he'd fish in his backpack for something to sink his teeth into. It was usually stale hard food that had been in his possession for countless days. He'd rummage the trash; people always threw out half eaten food, burgers, pizza, donuts, and on occasion fruit. Which was one of the things he'd eat on the spot, bread became stale and hardened but it was still edible.

Kakashi sat down on a park bench; it was his first time in that particular park. A bottle of water had caught his attention; right next to it was a wallet. He thought about taking the money and buying something for himself, he just hadn't decided what he'd like to buy. He didn’t have time to think about it either.

A car came up fast making Kakashi flinch. Naruto exited the car quickly and ran up to the bench. He was wearing shorts and a tank top damp with sweat. He'd been running in the park and left his wallet behind. He never took it out of the car while on his runs but someone asked him for a couple bucks. And Naruto felt the urge to help out someone in need. After cooling down from his run, he left remembering moments later that he had left his wallet behind and rushed back.

As Naruto reached for his wallet, he smiled at Kakashi who was now frowning due to what was happening. He had wanted the money that was safely tucked in the wallet and his chance to take it was stolen.

"Hello," Naruto said to him with a smile. Kakashi looked at him then turned away grumpily. "I'd stay and chat but I have to get ready for school, will you be here tomorrow?" Kakashi shrugged not wanting to look at him. Naruto reached into his wallet and pulled out forty dollars. "Here," Naruto said to Kakashi while handing him the money. Kakashi stared at him confused. "For taking care of my wallet until I returned. My entire identity is in here, I really should've been more careful."

Kakashi smiled and reached for the money. He admired the bills momentarily then separated them to hand one back. "I...wanted...steal it," Kakashi said voice gruff and hardly audible. He cleared his throat, stood up, and walked away thinking about coming back the following day to talk to Naruto. Kakashi felt drawn to Naruto. And he allowed himself to hope that life could be different if he was a part of the world that Naruto encompassed.

Surprised by Kakashi's gesture, Naruto smiled and was about to say thank you when he started to fade away.

 

That small glimmer of hope Kakashi had felt faded along with Naruto for you see, Kakashi never met him.

 

###  **2026**

Sakura was nervous about the coming day and in reality, should not be going to school. But she couldn't make her mom understand. She heard the same thing from her mom over and over since Junior High. _"They'll stop picking on you if you ignore them."_ It wasn't something she could ignore. It was too real, painful, and physical. She never showed her mom the burnt marks but they were there, a constant reminder of being pushed around and constantly belittled. It all began in Junior High because Suigetsu had kissed her. How was she supposed to know that he was Karin's boyfriend? Sakura had never met Karin before the girl attacked Sakura in the girl’s bathroom. Sakura tried to tell Karin that she didn't know Suigetsu had a girlfriend but her words fell on deaf ears. Karin made fun of Sakura's small breasts and large forehead while pushing her and slapping her after every insult Karin threw her way. Sakura knew she shouldn't try to defend herself. Karin's three friends were always with her. One of which Sakura had known since grade school. That girl was always causing trouble and getting into fights. Tayuya was tough and the way she was grinning only punctuated the fact that things were definitely going to get worse for Sakura if she didn't allow Karin to continue her taunting. Tayuya lit up a cigarette and Sakura, knowing what was about to happen, decided to fight back. But Sakura was quickly overtaken by the four of them and was left screaming in pain.

Now the three little scars on Sakura’s chest were a torment all on their own when she looked at them. She was afraid of those girls and tried to avoid them. It was all to no avail. It was as if the cigarette burns had some sort of tracking signal because those four girls always caught up with her. That morning wasn't any different. Sakura turned a corner slowly making sure the path was safe. Naruto wasn't paying attention to where he was going and rammed right into Sakura sending her crashing down.

"I'm so sorry," Naruto said laughing. He felt stupid for running into Sakura and felt embarrassed that he had knocked her down.

"It's okay," Sakura answered upset. She thought Naruto was laughing at her.

"How embarrassing. I must've been in the clouds. I'm so sorry," Naruto said again with a sincere smile while picking up Sakura's things. "Here you go," Naruto said to Sakura cheerfully handing over her things.

"Oh, Naruto, please tell me you're not friends with this skank," Karin said.

Sakura looked around scared; all four of them were there. How did they do that? How did they always find her?

"Karin, you don't need to worry about who my friends are."

"You don't want to be friends with her. If you are, we'll treat you just like her," Karin said knocking down Sakura's things with a slap of her hand and the other three started laughing. Tayuya sidled up to Sakura and pushed her down. Naruto stared at them in disbelief then laughed loudly.

"What's so funny?" Tayuya asked.

"You're bullies? Seriously? How pathetically unoriginal. Get over yourself for a moment and you'll see your own true colors," Naruto said to them while getting in between Tayuya and Sakura, giving Sakura a chance to pick up her things and stand up.

"What is all that about colors?" Karin said stupefied and then laughed at Naruto. "Already smoked one today?"

"You know, I always thought you were ugly and now I know why," Naruto said to her and grabbed Sakura by the arm in order to walk away from them. They weren't followed and knowing he had put some distance between them, Naruto turned to look at Sakura. The girl was silently tearing and wiped her eyes.

"Thank you, they usually do more than push me."

"I'm sorry they treat you like that,” he said softly. “I'll walk with you to the counselor's office." Sakura smiled and shrugged, nobody ever believed her. "Don't worry, today was the last day. I promise! Come on, I'll do all the talking."

Sakura allowed herself to hope that she would be left alone and no longer have to be scared of going to school. They walked into the office together but never made to the counselor's office.

Sakura was back in that corner facing the four girls. Her daily torment was about to begin.

 

The glimmer of Naruto's destiny had faded away, taking with it Sakura's hope. Naruto had never defended that girl, had never gone to that school, and no one had any memory of him. He didn't exist. His destiny and any connection he could’ve ever made were erased.

 

###  **2019**

Hinata headed to school hand in hand with her mom. They were both smiling. Hinata was excited to arrive at school to play with her friends. Her mom accompanied her through the gates because she wanted to see what had changed Hinata in such a short amount of time. Hinata had been very reserved since she started kindergarten and hated going to school but as soon as second grade began she had changed completely. Or more so the new school she was enrolled in. It wasn't a change that Kurenai had planned to make but sometimes a change in life was necessary. Kurenai was tired of the abusive relationship she was in and was concerned about the effect it would have on her daughter. She took the advice of a close friend and packed up to leave her old life behind. She made a stop at a police station to report the abuse just to leave it on record. The officer who wrote up the report recommended that she file a restraining order. She almost regretted doing so when Hiashi came after her with the restraining order in hand ready to punish her. Kurenai was lucky that he didn't catch her alone but she didn't like to think of it. Hinata's new outlook on life helped Kurenai hope that her future or her daughter's would not be as bleak as she once imagined it.

"Hi, Naruto!" Hinata shouted and waved at a little boy who was currently playing on a swing.

Kurenai had seen the boy before Hinata did. Naruto was swinging with a huge grin and telling the boy next to him that he was going to reach the sky. The other boy chuckled and kept swinging but happiness seemed to be radiating from Naruto. There was another boy a few feet away watching Naruto on the swing. He was grinning as he took in the scene and seemed just as happy as the boy swinging next to Naruto. Kurenai was in awe that one child could radiate so much happiness to all those around him. Even Kurenai herself was smiling as she watched Naruto swing with so much excitement.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted happy to see his friend as if it had been months and not just a day that he had seen her last. "Is that you mom?" Naruto asked with a giggle.

"Yeah," Hinata said happily.

"You brought your mom to school?" Naruto asked grinning.

"She's not staying!" Hinata answered and laughed. She then turned to Kurenai said, "Bye mom!" Hinata ran towards the playground waving at Naruto who waved back. Three girls saw her coming and rushed towards Hinata to greet her with a hug.

"Bye, mom lady!" Naruto told Kurenai and giggled.

"You called her mom lady!" the boy beside him said laughing.

"I know!" Naruto responded then they both jumped off the swing and ran after Hinata to tell her what he said.

Kurenai headed out chuckling and turned back for another glance at the kids on the playground.

 

The scene changed in a blink of an eye. The children were no longer excited and there was no longer a child named Naruto. Hinata was sitting on a step watching sadly as the other kids played with their friends. Naruto had never met Hinata or any of the other kids. Those moments couldn't happen because Naruto's destiny had been erased along with her excitement for life and Kurenai's hope for a better future.

 

###  **2012**

Kushina had another dizzy spell. It was the third one that week. She wasn't really worried but wondered what it could be all the same. She walked out of the office leaving a shocked Mikoto behind when she turned down happy hour. Kushina had never skipped happy hour; it was what she did what she had done since her divorce. Kushina's happy hour extended from a few drinks with friends to a full out drunkenness at one in the morning when she was clambering out of an unknown's bed to head to her own home. She was unaware that she had been leaving the same apartment for months now.

Minato had the same drinking habits as Kushina but the woman had softened him with her charm and pleasant conversations even though she was not in all her senses. Minato wanted to change for her. He wanted a family. He allowed himself to hope that he could have everything he wanted with Kushina and that life would be better. He began to drink less the more time he spent with her and took her to his place after fighting with her for her keys whenever she was making her way out of the bar they frequented. He didn't allow her to drive drunk. He would call a cab and had her car towed to his place every night. He split the bill with her but she never even noticed that he dug in her purse and pulled out cash in order to do so.

However, Kushina noticed that particular day that the amount of money in her purse was scarce. She wanted to buy a pregnancy test since Mikoto had put the idea in her mind that she might be pregnant and perhaps, that was the reason she was having dizzy spells. She paid the cashier who frowned at her in distaste because she had little cash and the last three dollars and fifty-nine cents were paid with quarters, dimes, nickels and nineteen pennies. Kushina still lived at her parents’ home so she took the pregnancy test in the drugstore bathroom. Five minutes later she found out she was pregnant and she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

This is what Kushina needed, the push that would help her turn her life around. She wanted this baby; she needed this baby. She thought for a moment that if it were a boy, she'd name the baby Naruto and if it were a girl, she'd name the baby Tenten. Kushina was undeniably determined to turn her life around. She allowed herself to hope that everything would turn out for the better.

But destiny had come calling her name and Kushina couldn’t help but answer her call. In her state of excitement and preoccupation, she didn't notice that she had taken the wrong turn. She had left the drugstore on the wrong side of the parking lot and turned onto a one-way street towards oncoming traffic. In a split second all of the hope Kushina and Minato had felt vanished as the glimmer of Naruto's destiny disappeared when his twenty-eight-day life within his mother's womb came to an abrupt end.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this back in 2012. It was something that was eating at me and I couldn't stop thinking about it until I wrote down. Interesting enough, I don't believe in destiny. But I do believe that our life choices point us in a certain direction and that every time we decide to change something in our life or within ourselves that the direction changes. Maybe that is what destiny is but I guess I don't believe that it is fixed. It's fluid and has a multitude of possibilities but we can only choose one. Anyway, that's what I believe. I don't know if the story contradicts that belief or not but it doesn't matter since it's simply a work of fiction. And I know that it's very short, but it is only supposed to be a window that shows glimmers of possible futures and the effect one life has on many.


End file.
